“The Book of Life” is Reel FX Animation Studios’ follow-up to last year’s Thanksgiving-themed comedy “Free Birds”. Here the studio takes-on a different holiday with the help of producer Guillermo del Toro and visionary director Jorge Gutierrez, as “The Book of Life” breathes new life into the Mexican fiesta – The Day of the Dead. […]
“Fury” is one of the bloodiest, saddest, and most authentic-looking war movies in recent years. Director David Ayer (“End of Watch”) holds nothing back in depicting the gritty ugliness of WWII through a five man tank platoon assisting the Allies in finishing-off the Nazis in 1945 Germany. Brad Pitt, who won his first Academy Award […]
“Whiplash” is one of the great indie triumphs of the year. It is exhilarating and suspenseful – daring and dark, with two scintillating performances. Miles Teller (“The Spectacular Now”) plays Andrew Neyman, a percussion student at the fictional and prestigious Schaffer School of Music in NYC. In his first semester at the school, Andrew is […]
In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, lawyer Atticus Finch, played by Oscar winner Gregory Peck, must defend his client, even though he realizes he doesn’t have much of a chance of keeping him out of jail. 52 years later, Robert Downey, Jr.’s fast-talking lawyer whose heart is not quite so gold, takes on the task of […]
The opening scenes of “Gone Girl” are filled with so much rapid-fire dialogue and whip-fast editing that I thought Aaron Sorkin had re-teamed with director David Fincher. But then I remembered that author Gillian Flynn, who wrote the hit 2012 novel, adapted her own work into this screenplay. Set in the summer of ’12, “Gone […]
Chances are you’ve heard the title “One Chance” in movie news stories often over the past year or so. The musical comedy based on the true story of wannabe opera singer Paul Potts, who eventually won Simon Cowell’s “Britain’s Got Talent” TV competition show, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2013 and was […]
Two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington re-teams with “Training Day” director Antoine Fuqua to bring the 80s TV series “The Equalizer” to the big screen. It’s an action film with such over-the-top and unpredictable violence that it’s hard to imagine this version will ever make it onto broadcast TV. Sony is clearly counting on “The […]
“The Boxtrolls” is the latest stop-motion animation film distributed by Focus Features and brought to life by Laika, the makers of “Coraline” and “ParaNorman”. Both of those movies were nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar, and I’ll be very surprised if “The Boxtrolls” isn’t on the ballot this year. What, on the surface, appears […]
At every county fair there’s a challenging, exciting and exhausting corn maze. It’s filled with twists and turns, giving those who dare to enter the feeling that there’s no way out. “The Maze Runner” presents a lot of questions early on. And after going in circles for nearly two hours, the only way I hoped […]
Released nearly three years ago, “Dolphin Tale” was a smart, sophisticated and sweet live-action family film with genuine heart. I was surprised when Warner Bros. announced they were making a sequel, wondering if this saga could support a franchise. But since the first film was based on real life events, and more events took place […]